FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke at a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC in November of 2021.
Two Iranian nationals were indicted by a New York federal grand jury on charges of trying to influence American voters in order to benefit the re- election campaign of Donald Trump.
According to prosecutors, one threatening email was sent to tens of thousands of Democratic voters and said, "You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you."
The Proud Boys are a group that supported Trump during the election.
The two men are charged with conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States, computer fraud, voter intimidation, and transmission of interstate threats.
The Department of State has a reward of up to $10 million for information about the men who are not in custody.
The Department of Justice said that the two experienced Iran-based hackers worked for a company that provided services to the Iranian government.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on that company, both defendants and four other Iranian nationals who comprise the company's leadership.
The two men are accused of obtaining confidential voter information from a state election website and getting data on more than 100,000 voters. The state wasn't identified.
They are accused of sending intimidating emails to voters and of distributing a video that contained misinformation about the election infrastructure.
The duo gained unauthorized access to a U.S. media company's computer network. That company is not known.
The Department of Justice said that if not for the FBI and victim company efforts, the conspirators would have had another vehicle to spread false claims after the election.
In October 2020, members of the conspiracy sent messages and emails to Republican Senators, Republican members of Congress, and people associated with the presidential campaign of Donald J. The Democratic Party was planning to exploit serious security vulnerabilities in state voter registration websites to register non-existent voters, according to Trump, White House advisors, and members of the media.
The members of the conspiracy claimed to be a group of Proud Boys volunteers, according to the indictment.
The indictment appears to undermine claims from leading intelligence officials in the Trump administration who said in 2020 that Iran was against Trump's reelection.
The indictment details how two Iran-based actors waged a targeted, coordinated campaign to erode confidence in the integrity of the U.S. electoral system.
According to prosecutors, the men told voters in email that they were in possession of all their information.
We know you are a Democrat because we have gained access to the voting infrastructure. We will come after you if you vote for Trump.
The email said to change your party affiliation to Republican to let them know you received the message. We will know which candidate you voted for. If I were you, I would take this very seriously.
John Ratcliffe, Trump's final director of national intelligence, scheduled a news conference a few weeks before the 2020 election to announce that Iran was sending fake emails designed to damage Trump.
The Washington Post reported that the U.S. had warned authorities about Iranian attempts to send threatening emails to Democratic voters while posing as members of the Proud Boys.
CNBC asked Ratcliffe if he had any comment on the indictment.
